The Bionic Woman

Lindsay Wagner was perfect in that role.

It's been fun, lots of laughs, Jaime.

It always is when friends meet again.

But lately it's gone flat for me, Jaime.

I don't like seeing you, now and then.

Our friendship is finished. That's true.

But there's hope, a way to make it through.

Because, sweet Jaime, I love you.

Fembot Callahan rocked my world.

R3 --- The fembots RULED ........... If you're going to show them, do it right !!

I guess Lindsay Wagner was too good to be a fembot ........... Oscar Goldman got to be one (in Spanish !!)

What can I say, I thought it best to start with the origins of Fembot Callahan instead of jumping into the middle of the plot.

Oh man, I remember when Oscar's secretary (whose name I can't remember) was replaced by a Fembot... I was totally freaked out as a kid!

How did they ever get John Housman to accept a role in The Bionic Woman? Did he need the money that much?

And let's not forget, Sandra Bullock was the bionic girl in a the last TV movie... you know, the one where Steve FINALLY proposed to Jaime!

The fembot music video

"Sure, we all did."

Poor Lindsay Wagner really doesn't get her due on Datalounge. Is she too dull? Is it all the turquoise jewelery and hippy-dippy clothing she wears these days?

I love Lindsay

I love her. Her raspy voice, her athletic build, her Sleep Number bed commercials, her many marriages to men despite my hunch she's gay. She's beautiful. I watched the show recently and wow was it a dud. Her charm sure went a long way when I was 6.

She won and Emmy Award for the Bionic Woman in 1977 or 1978.

Lindsay had a lot of "Hold me, David" moments of overacting in TBW - she got away with it, I think, because she's much much more attractive than albino pygmy Bonnie Franklin.

I always wanted Jaime to be with Steve, of course, but she had a lot of attractive guest male stars in many of the episodes - Sam Groom and Andrew Prine (my first nude crush) spring to mind.

I liked that bitch. i used to pretend i was the bionic woman all the time when i was a little boy. i loved the scene where she dressed up as a female wrestler. Then she escapes from a elevated cage by slicing her bionic hand through the steel cage and jumps 50 feet to freedom. Classic!

I remember her wrestling name - Savage Sommers.

Wasn't there (in real life) a highjacker stranding a plane on the tarmac who wouldn't give up unless Lindsay Wagner spoke with him in person?

Hijacker, sorry. And I know she played a stewardess in a hijacker film, but I thought some nut tried to get to meet her this way in real life.

I remember she played a German stewardess in that made-for-TV movie. Uli something.

I adored Lindsay in Scruples!

Uli Derickson r19 -- the real life lady went through tons of shit after the hijacking wen Victim Cultures, who had not yet gotten the full story, decided she had sold out people to the terrorists.

Of course, they were sorry afterwards and held up more shivs to make sure she accepted their apology.

I was six when the show orginally aired and loved every single second of it. But how did adults react to it? Was it marketed to kids?

Looking at the episodes now, Jamie seems much more aloof and bored with it all than Steve Austin does. Jamie just wanted to unwind in a wicker chair with a glass of chablis while Steve wanted to save the world. Her attitude is refreshing for a sci-fi action show.

How was Lindsey's German accent, r21?

On TBW, she sure done the south just proud!

Gay boys must love the things. I loved the fembots and the two Lisa Galloway episodes.

Really loved it all but those were quite memorable.

You know, the remake from a few years ago would've worked if they just redid the old episodes with modern CGI. The new Jamie was cool. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Oooh, Scruples! I never saw the movie (miniseries?), but I remember sneaking it from my moms nightstand to read some of the dirty parts. I think that was my introduction to the concept of oral sex. I remember one line was something like "You never really know a man until you've smelled his scent," which was written when the lead character was sucking off one of the help.

That would be the bionic woman -- from Ojai, California.

Loved this as a kid and watched it in reruns as well. Not sure why i liked it so much, but nice to see so many other gaylings parked in front of the TV when it was on. As a kid my dream was a Wonder Woman/Bionic Woman cross over episode but it never happened. Just in my fantasies.

God, this show was so terrible. "Showgirls" terrible.

I'm a HUGE BW fan. I was 11 when the show premiered in '76. I've followed Lindsay's career for the last 40 years, clipped news articles before the Internet about the show and Lindsay and have the series on DVD.

The show worked largely because of Lindsay who made the character of Jamie vulnerable and empathetic. This was the problem with the remake in my opinion.

I think I could answer most questions if anyone has any.

Lindsay Wagner still looks pretty good today.

It seems like Armisted Maupin partially based Maryanne on Lindsay (the bed commercial gig).

I remember seeing an interview with Bette Davis in her later years where she was asked what current actresses she admired. Bette's answer-Debra Winger and Lindsay Wagner.

I actually think the show holds up pretty darn well. Even the bionic dog episodes, of which I was never a fan back in the day, play okay today. (The explanation given for the dog's existence -- that he was the original test model for bionics -- wasn't really that outrageous when you think about it.) I think because the series was science-based and not just some superhero show, that's why it still works as well as it does, even in 2015. "Bionic Woman" has aged beautifully compared to "Wonder Woman," its chief rival for the attention of teenage boys at the time, which is just cringeworthy to sit through now. Truly bad 70s television at its worst.

Here is one of her interviews from the DVDs.

[quote] Fembot Callahan rocked my world.

I loved Jennifer Darling. It wasn't until I watched the first episode featuring Callahan on "Six Million Dollar Man" that I realized she was a dwarf. I thought the fembot episodes were the best.

Several years ago I saw Lindsay Wagner at Dinah's Restaurant in Los Angeles.

[R37] Really? Dinah's in Glendale? Great fried chicken!

R38 Dinah's near LAX airport.

It's a shame Lindsay achieved stardom in an era when making the leap from TV into films was much, much harder. Today it's a non-issue. She really had the whole package - looks, brains, charm, talent, a lovely feminine quality while still being strong, a wonderful speaking voice, etc.. She did make some features but not as the star and not in top-quality films.

Why did her career stall out? Or did she transition into her high-profile TV movie career due to work/family concerns?

[R39] I see. So Lindsay Wagner likes her fried chicken - who knew? I'll bet she chose a side of cold bean salad.

I do remember her in Nighthawks, but Lindsay starred in quite a few made for TV movies. She had a style all her own. Very down to earth.

She was my first, and only, female crush. I crushed hard on her.

For you, r28.

....

....

George Hamilton had nothing on Richard Anderson (Oscar) when it came to tanning.

R47 I read somewhere that Richard Anderson was obsessed with tanning and would suntan on the Universal lot during filming.

I had no idea Richard Anderson died last year.

RIP, babe!

Bitch, please.

I think Richard Anderson was my first “daddy” crush. I used to have the Oscar Goldman doll (with exploding briefcase!) and I was quite interested in what he had on under his khakis. (Painted turquoise “underwear”)

Best opening theme song ever!

More food for baby gay thought

Oscar checks off a lot of my boxes.

What I thought was pretty cool about Jaime is that she was essentially resurrected not once, but twice. But yeah, she did have ambivalent feelings about paying her debt to the U.S. government (a debt Steve arranged on her behalf). This culminated in her flipping her shit in the very last episode, arguing with herself over what her life's become.

Two more things: -- A, I think the episode where Steve strips down to his underwear to run through the rain (part three of the Fembots saga) was the first prolonged beefcake sequence on American TV. -- B, The show gave up way too soon on the story opportunities that could have came from Jaime's tennis fame or even just being a teacher.

I loved that show and yes the fembots were a big part of it.

Loved Lindsay and the Bionic Woman too. My first and only female crush also! I think I wanted to be her. She had this androgynous beauty, strength, and vulnerability well before Gia Carangi slunk on to the scene- who IMO was greatly overrated.

Martin E. Brooks - my favorite of the three Rudys.

Nice, R46! I'd never seen that picture before. They both look great.

[quote]As a kid my dream was a Wonder Woman/Bionic Woman cross over episode but it never happened. Just in my fantasies.

That would've been cool, I agree. I guess because BW was set in the present day and WW (in her first season) was set in the 1940s, it would've been difficult to make something like that work without some kind of time-shifting storyline to explain it. Perhaps if both had stayed on ABC (each jumped to other networks after their first seasons), it eventually would've happened. (Of course, WW's timeline was switched to the present day after it moved to CBS.)

I wish I still had the Bananas Magazine that had them both on the cover.

I still have Lindsay on the cover of Gossip.

I had a magazine called Dynamite at the time that had Lindsay on the cover. Wish I had saved it after all these years.

Here you go R61, but you'll have to bid in the next few days, and you'll have to buy all 12 issues.

I'd consider bidding myself, but they don't have the Shields and Yarnell issue I'm seeking.

I loved Lindsay Wagner as Jamie Sommers when I was a kid. I would pretend I was the Bionic Woman all of the time when I was a little boy.

She should have gotten a refund on bionic ear, since she had to move her hair to completely expose the ear for it to work.

i always wanted a bionic asshole and mouth that way i could accommodate more cocks, more quickly.

[quote]i always wanted a bionic asshole and mouth that way i could accommodate more cocks, more quickly.

We know, Rudy.

Used to watch both Bionic series way back then, fun entertainment - loved the fembot storyline, quite scarry.

If they reboot the series today, what would she do for the classic phone book ripping stunt in her classroom? A lot of younger people today wouldn’t know what that is.

Jesus, r21...I had no idea. That’s fascinating.

Who knew reading a thread about TBW would have introduced me to that fascinating story of Uli Derickson, the first woman ever awarded with the Silver Cross for Valor by the Legion of Valor.

I wonder how many unsung heroes walk among us in daily life...

OMG, thank you, R62! I would love to have all of those. Maybe I'll put in a bid.

[quote]She should have gotten a refund on bionic ear, since she had to move her hair to completely expose the ear for it to work.

LOL, never thought about that before, R64. Excellent point!

[quote]Used to watch both Bionic series way back then, fun entertainment - loved the fembot storyline, quite scarry.

Scary and perhaps even realistic -- is it possible Trump is a fembot???

[quote]If they reboot the series today, what would she do for the classic phone book ripping stunt in her classroom? A lot of younger people today wouldn’t know what that is.

I would suggest tearing a MacBook Air in half.

[quote] is it possible Trump is a fembot???

I'm pretty sure Melania is.